The Chemistry and Function of Proteins

Abstract

ABSTRACT The second edition of Haurowitz's Chemistry and Biology of Proteins, now renamed The Chemistry and Function of Proteins, follows its predecessor by a span of 13 years, a period which represents a most spectacular advance in the protein field. In 1950, the characterization of chains of 100 amino acids was considered a hopeless endeavor; yet within the following three years the structure of insulin, with over 50 amino acids, was already completely known. By 1961 ribonuclease, with well over a hundred, could be pictured with some confidence.It can be said at the outset that this is a superb text, in writing, arrangement, annotation, and production. It is obviously a must for the advanced student in biochemistry and indeed in most fields of biology. The general reader in medicine will find it tougher going. But in certain areas, where the literature is already reaching a point of no return for